章 103: Official Act
"This is the captain of the Desolate Party, Sequence 5 Guardian Lech Arsenov," Bishop Utravsky said as he pointed at the tall figure who was praying piously in front of the mother's holy emblem.
Upon hearing that he was introduced, Captain Giant stood up and lowered his head to nod at Ebner. He smiled and said, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Bryan."
"It's an honor to meet you as well, Your Excellency Asenov." Ebner took off his hat and bowed. Since Bishop Utravsky addressed him as "Your Excellency," this person should be a high-ranking deacon of the Church of Earth Mother. His title in Nighthawks was probably equivalent to the Sword of the Goddess. The huge chest behind him might even be a holy relic that matched him.
Yes, a Sequence 5 Warrior pathway who had contracted a Holy Artifact. A Sanguine Viscount who had probably lived for hundreds of years and accumulated an unknown amount of mysticism knowledge. A Sequence 5 Scarlet Scholar. The son of two Saints, a Sequence 6 Biologist who had many good things on him…
The standard of this team is so high! Does the Church of Earth Mother think so highly of that corrupted believer?
Thinking of this, Ebner was somewhat speechless. It had to be known that when the Church of Evernight dealt with Lanevus, who had the True Creator's godhood, the lineup they sent out was probably inferior.
However, he quickly turned his gaze to Miss Judy Loreto. He felt that the reason why such a high-level team had come was probably because of the team that this young lady was in.
After all, she was the daughter of a church saint. It was reasonable for her to join a stronger team.
While Ebner was smiling and letting his imagination run wild, Giant Captain Arsenov asked, "Mr. Bryan, did you discover anything else in Leonardo's house? How did you determine that he might have become a Demoness' advancement ritual?"
Ebner thought for a moment and felt that it wasn't a secret, so he replied, "When I was 'recalling' the scene in his bedroom, I saw a woman who was suspected to be a Demoness making out with him. In addition, Bishop Utravsky is very familiar with the advancement ritual of the Demoness of Afflictions, so I had a guess."
"Is that so…" Captain Arsenov nodded slightly before looking at his team member, Cullen. The latter immediately understood. After a moment of silence, he asked Ebner, "Then, do you know where many people have gone missing in Backlund recently?"
"There are countless missing person cases in Backlund…" This was because the king was personally involved in the kidnapping of his own people.
Of course, Ebner didn't say the latter half of the sentence. He only asked in confusion, "Why are you asking about this?"
"Since that heretic became the Demoness's advancement ritual, he most likely won't be able to survive. And because of the corruption, he might very well mutate into a terrifying monster or Sealed Artifact." Before Viscount Cullen could speak, the brown-haired girl, Judy, spoke first.
"Furthermore, I'm guessing that the monsters produced by the mutation will definitely require a large amount of flesh and blood… However, the various Churches have yet to report this situation. This means that someone is secretly raising it! Yes, it's very likely that it's that Demoness." Following the girl's answer, Cullen added.
"I see. No wonder you're asking where there's been a missing population lately... Wait." At this point, Ebner suddenly remembered the psychic results he'd had on Morella last night. It was as if the service company had been trading populations with some important person.
Previously, he had subconsciously thought that this was also part of George III's apotheosis ritual or a smokescreen, but he had overlooked one point. Compared to other human trafficking, this transaction had only begun recently. Furthermore, it had begun very close to the time when Dr. Leonardo disappeared.
Seeing that Ebner was deep in thought, Captain Asenov asked gently, "Mr. Bryan, have you thought of any new clues?"
Ebner snapped to attention at that, organized his words, and recounted the results of last night's psychic and retroactively to the Forsaken present. In the end, he said, "I'm guessing that the human trafficking done by this company controlled by the Eternal life Society may have something to do with the Demoness. She seems to have seduced an officer and is fully capable of doing so."
Captain Arsenov closed his eyes in thought for a moment, then finally nodded, acknowledging Ebner's deduction. "Mr. Bryan," he asked, "could you take us to that warehouse to investigate? If it really is the Enchantress feeding on the contaminated monsters, something will surely remain there."
Ebner also did not know the location of the warehouse, so he replied, "My companions have already sent people to investigate the location of that warehouse. There should be news in a day or two."
Captain Arsenov frowned when he heard this reply. He suddenly asked, "Is the company controlled by the Eternal life Society in the dock area?"
"That's right." Ebner didn't understand what the other party meant, so he could only nod in agreement.
"Then there's no problem." Asenov heaved a sigh of relief and said to his team members, "Judy, Cullen, go with this Mr. Bryan… My size is not suitable for action during the day."
"Yes, Captain," the two replied briskly.
They wanted to arrest him and force him to confess…
It was only then that Ebner roughly guessed what the other party intended to do. He could not help but be dumbfounded by the actions of the official team.
"The dock area is the territory of the Lord of Storms and the God of Steam and Machinery. And before we entered Backlund, we reported it to these two Churches. As long as we don't cause too much of a commotion, the Mandated Punishers and the Machinery Hivemind won't interfere with our law enforcement." Seeing Ebner's surprise, Judy explained with a smile.
After hearing her words, Ebner had to admit that although this method was simple and crude, it was effective and efficient. However, it was limited to the government and some insane organizations that were not afraid of investigation.
The reason why he and Xio hadn't thought of doing so and even got someone to do the screening was because even if they infiltrated that company and captured the leader, it would be very difficult for them to silence the entire Everlasting Society, much less eliminate their memories. If they were to be exposed later, their act of invading a legitimate enterprise with Beyonder powers would be subject to the scrutiny of the official Beyonders. It wasn't worth it.
Furthermore, even if they were all silenced, it would probably be even more troublesome when the time came. The officials wouldn't let them off just because he and Xio were upholding justice.
As for why it was fine to kill Morey? That was because the other party had committed a crime first. To kill a hostage, Xio's identity as a secret agent of MI9 could be concealed.
…
The headquarters of Winston's Labor and Services Company located at the dock area was a three-story building. It didn't look obvious on the outside, but the interior was very well renovated. It wasn't much worse than some high-end clubs in Cherwood Borough.
Cullen glanced at the sign in front of the building, then pushed open the door and walked in unhurriedly.
Ebner, on the other hand, was stunned. He thought to himself, This is called infiltration? Is there such an arrogant infiltration?
However, before he could figure it out, he suddenly felt dizzy, as if he could faint at any moment.
Right at this time, he smelled an extremely stimulating smell again. Only then did he shiver and completely wake up. However, that stimulating smell still didn't dissipate, circling around his nose.
Ebner looked down subconsciously and saw Judy holding up a small bag of herbs to his nose, smiling at him.
"This is… Sleeping Potion?" Ebner shook his head and asked with a headache.
"Before Cullen became a Scarlet Scholar, he had been a Potion Professor for more than a hundred years. Who knows what kind of strange potion he developed? If I weren't a Biologist and also had the ability to concoct similar functional herbs, the two of us would probably have to sleep until he returns to wake up." Judy was extremely familiar with her companion's behavior, so she was already prepared.
If you didn't have a solution, I'm afraid he wouldn't have handled things so roughly…
Ebner was just grumbling to himself when he saw Cullen walkout, frowning.
"How's it going?" Judy asked worriedly when she saw that Callum didn't look well.
"That witch is very cautious. Not only did all the relevant personnel have their memories tampered with, but that warehouse has also been completely wiped out… The only good news is that the last batch of commoners kidnapped by this service company hasn't been transferred to the warehouse yet. They are still locked in the basement of the company." Cullen became serious for once. He felt that the opponent of this mission should not be simple, so after thinking for a while, he said to the brown-haired girl,
"Judy, contact the Machinery Hivemind and get them to help in the rescue. I have to return as soon as possible to talk to Captain about that Demoness. She's so cautious, but she's still staying in Backlund despite having mutated monsters. Clearly, she has bigger plans. As for the credit for finding these kidnappers…"
At this point, he cast his gaze at Ebner. The seriousness on his face was gone as he smiled and said, "I'll leave the credit to you, Detective Bryan! A young detective barging into a tiger's den alone, a brave hero rescuing many young girls… Isn't this a great title?"
Ah? This title was too "Roselle"!
Ebner, however, listened with an embarrassed expression, not knowing what to say.
…
In the blink of an eye, two days had passed. The headlines that Cullen had joked about had really been picked up by the major newspapers in Backlund. The Daily Observer had even taken out an entire page to report this legendary story. Now, people on the streets were either spurning the despicable and shameless Southern Continent citizens or praising Ebner's bravery and fearlessness.
This made Ebner not dare to leave the house for two days. He stayed at home analyzing his teacher's 2-081 until Miss Mid-Day came knocking on his door.
"You are now famous. Even Miss Audrey saw the report and even asked about you from Fors." Xio smiled.
Because Ebner had previously informed her that she did not need to continue searching for the warehouse, she knew the whole story on the day of the incident. She even knew that the so-called "heroic deed" was actually placed on Ebner by the Forsaken One.
"I've attracted enough hatred. In the future, not only that Demoness, but I'm afraid even the Numinous Episcopate will find trouble with me." At this point, Ebner glanced at the tree branch outside the window. There was a silver-feathered bird that was invisible to ordinary people.
Xio and Ebner chatted for a while before asking, "By the way, have you heard of Emperor Roselle ?"
Ebner froze at the question. He'd been about to forge a page for the afternoon Tarot Club but Xio had asked first.
"I do. Are you asking what Emperor Roselle wants to do?" Ebner asked calmly.
"Miss Audrey likes to collect Roselle's manuscripts. Let Fors and I take note… I'm asking if you have any here," Xio replied casually.
Is Audrey trying to buy a diary from Fors and Xio for Mr. Fool? This… This might be an opportunity. I can write a few notes for Xio in the future and let her earn some pocket money from Audrey.
And most importantly, some important information can't always be leaked from the "diary" in my hands. Giving some to Audrey would also make Klein accept it.
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